No Puerto Rico move for billionaire John Paulson

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson announced Friday that he has no plans to move to Puerto Rico, denying media reports that he was considering establishing residence in the U.S. island territory to help cut his tax bill.

The New York native and president of Paulson & Co. has interest in the Caribbean island, but not for a possible home, his company said in an unusual and brief statement.

"While Mr. Paulson has considered real estate investments and has vacationed on the Island, he has no plans to establish a permanent residence there," the statement said.

Such a move would have been unusual. Puerto Rico has been steadily losing population in recent years because of a stagnant economy, high crime and other problems. It now has about 3.7 million people.

Several media outlets reported that Paulson, whose company has about $18 billion in assets under management, was considering a move to Puerto Rico to take advantage of a change in tax law that would have allowed new residents to avoid taxes on capital gains, the principal source of income for many extremely wealthy investors.